- In this episode, we cover golden-era dubstep, Arcadia's outlandish festival design and using turntables for sound art.
- This month's show kicks off with Pinch telling the story behind an essential track of dubstep's first wave, "Qawwali" [01.49].
Carlos Hawthorn dons a blindfold and takes a ride to the secret headquarters of Arcadia Spectacular. The performance art collective cooks up breathtaking designs for festivals like Glastonbury and Ultra. Their most famous construction is probably the Spider, a 50 tonne arachnid built from scrap metal and armed with an arsenal of lasers, cannons and a huge Funktion-One soundsystem [08.35].
While you may be familiar with DJ tricks like beat juggling and flaring, abstract turntablism is another beast altogether. Double-headed needles, placing objects on the vinyl and hitting the turntable itself are just some of the techniques involved in using the turntable as a tool to make sound art. Max Pearl looks into the esoteric practice with one of its finest modern exponents, Maria Chavez [30.08].
Producer /
Martha Pazienti Caidan
TracklistPrayer - Alone [Grade 10]
Pinch - Qawwali [Planet Mu]
Basement Jaxx - Fly Life Xtra [Atlantic Jaxx]
Alan Fitzpatrick - Truant [Cocoon Recordings]
Lemzly Dale - No Long Talk (Kahn & Neek remix) [Fabriclive]
Roni Size ft DJ Die - It's a Jazz Thing [V Recordings]
Kareem Lotfy - Fr3sh [PAN]
M.E.S.H. - Exasthrus [PAN]
Oli XL - Heretic [PAN]
Sky H1 - Huit [PAN]
N-Prolenta - Rush (a humor) [Purple Tape Pedigree]
Young Thug - Best Friend (Waterhouse orchestral edit)